The end of 3G cellular

My Volt has “edge”
Never could understand the immense desire by auto makers to use 20+ year old telematics on modern cars.

Leafs through 2015 went dead a few years ago

 

I wish Prime telematics are 3G... Then I did not have to opt-out of the Connected Service. It is not 3G, even in 2017 Prime. So, as long as you keep paying Connected service subscription fees, you will be OK at least until 4G gets shut down.

 

The only Prius models in the list on Toyota’s 3G Network Retirement page are the 2012–2016 Prius v, 2012–2015 Prius Plug-in, and 2010–2016 Prius.

 

Check out this list;

https://www.carbibles.com/check-here-to-see-if-your-car-will-be-affected-by-the-3g-shutdown/

 

Somehow late last year, I missed the push-back of these 3G shutdown dates, so was in a mad scramble to get my Tracfone (VMNO on Verizon) switched over before the shutdown that I thought was coming at the end of 2020. And that was already a push-back from an earlier 'firm date' of 12/31/2019.

Though I did see then that AT&T wasn't shutting down its 3G until early 2022, so didn't around to getting the spouse's Tracfone (VMNO'ed on AT&T) switched over until this past autumn.

Here is another item giving shut-off dates already in the past. It isn't like this is a surprise to the industry, and they can't keep pushing back the dates over and over again forever.

 

When some folks looked up the part numbers for the 2017 Advanced telematics unit a while ago, the FCC ID showed it as using 4G (LTE). And it is not on the "kill" list mentioned above. So they will be happy to keep on taking the SafetyConnect fees from those owners.

 

None affected. All US Prius Prime models 2017–2022 have LTE.

86740
Mobile Phone Control Module
ZVW51..G,H
TELEMATICS-WITH(LTE)

Part Number: 86740-47160

TELEPHONE & MAYDAY. 2021 Toyota Prius Prime | Toyota

 

As I recall from my dad, who has an extensive collection of antique phones, the Western Electric "vertical desk stand" was designated 20L, not 50L. I have one in my collection that my dad gave me.
Very rare is the Model AA-1 with a cradle mounted to a cut off 20L. More common is the first custom handset cradle base (round) designated as the 102. That was superseded by the oval base 202.
I even have a 20L converted with a 3A clickety dial.

 

Thanks for the link illustrating the models. So the dial (not touch-tone) phone I unplugged just a year ago last week, was the not-nearly-as-old Model 500.

I unplugged it (along with a couple modern units) only because it was time to tell the landline company to stick it where the sun don't shine, as they were degrading the associated DSL service to 'encourage' us to upgrade to optic fiber, but then didn't actually have fiber service on my street. Bye-bye to both your internet, and your landline too.

I think that phone is still in service at a friend's house, where an extension is useful.

 

The 300 and the 500 were designed by Henry Drefus, the industrial designer who did the Honeywell round thermostat.

The 300 had a concave body, while the 500 had a convex body. We have two 5300's in our collections. The 5300 was a modernized convex body that fitted over the inner works of the 300. It is easily distinguished in that there is no "hump" extending out the back of the phone.

The DTMF (dual tone multi-frequency) touch pad was introduced at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair at the same Flushing Meadows sit ast the 1939 Worlds Fair.

 

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I'm looking for the slew of "obsolete" ipads, iPhones and tablets that "won't work on 5g" to hit eBay and swappa.... they'll be great GPS and multi media devices

 

I knew I was getting old the day the lights in the bathroom at work wouldn't turn on and the kid who came to fix them told me, "Oh yeah, these switches do that sometimes. You have to reboot them." I was thinking to myself, "If crashing light switches are progress we are in trouble as a species."

Then I got to thinking, "how could a someone be so incompetent at programming a single-function device with a fixed and known hardware that it crashes?" and I felt even more irritated.

 

In a commercial setting, the light switches may may be complex enough where they can get hung up and have to be reset. Features like timers, motion sensors, and remote control. Even my home X-10 remote-control light switches sometimes need to be reset. Sometimes a power glitch can get the control logic tied up in knots. Although calling it "reboot" rather than just "reset" may be a stretch.

 

5g, at least in the US, is a big scam. I'm reading articles recommending to stay on lte for faster speeds and better battery life.

 

I don't think it is a scam, but my impression is that cell-phone service in the US has never improved ever since the introduction of 3G. There was 3+ G, 4G, 4+ G, and 5G afterwards, and whichever carrier I tried, the service has been miserable with every upgrade. 5+ G and 6G are next, but nothing is going to change. That's because the numbers refer to theoretical performance, but we don't see any performance improvement in practice due to poor infrastructure.

 

At least for me where I live, Verizon lte was a huge difference from 3g.

 

I get impressive rates with Mint Mobile 5G at home, which is on T-Mobile US's network—over 500 Mbit/s download. However, if I go to a shopping center, the signal diminishes and everyone is sharing the network, and I am lucky if I can open webpages. Mint Mobile is hard to beat with $25 a month.